1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to recreational vehicles, in particular the communications between a recreational vehicle and safety equipment.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many people use human powered or recreational vehicles such as ATVs (all-terrain vehicles), on and off road motorcycles, UTVs (utility task vehicle), snowmobiles, bicycles, kayaks, motor boats, tractors, go carts, lawn tractors, dune buggies, golf carts, skateboards, scooters, self-balancing devices (Segway, RYNO, UNI-Cub, hoverboards and similar devices), skis, etc. It is much safer to operate these vehicles with safety equipment such as a helmet, a life jacket or similar device. This invention provides a means for encouraging the use of these safety devices by the users of the vehicles by limiting the functionality of the vehicle if the safety equipment is not worn. Simply disabling the vehicle when a helmet is missing was considered, but deemed to be undesirable and perhaps dangerous to the user. If a helmet is lost by the user many miles into the woods, the user's survival may be in peril if the user cannot get the vehicle to return him home. So the present invention limits functionality and performance while still allowing the user to return home.
Other systems have used interlocks to prevent the vehicle from starting, but these other systems allow the user to easily defeat the system or use a lot of power to operate. For instance, Piero Bossi's European Patent application EP 0346300A1 teaches the disabling of a moped when a helmet is not present. Similarly, Hong-Woo Lee and Kim Duck-soo teach an interlock device that prevents the starting of a motorcycle when the helmet is not present in Korean patent KR 101385146. However, each of these teachings fail to account for many aspects of the present invention, for instance neither allow the vehicle to operate when the helmet is missing, potentially creating a safety issue if the helmet is lost when deep in the woods.